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It’s fitting in this Olympics year to use an athletic metaphor to describe the all-new 2009 BMW 7 Series, which comes to America next spring in 750i and 750iL trims. After our first drive of the new luxury sedan, in advance of its public debut at this October’s Paris auto show, the best comparison we can make to the realm of heated blood and straining muscle is to call the fifth-generation 7 Series a champion pentathlete.

To most Americans an obscure sport (the U.S. has never won a medal since it was added to the Olympics in 1912), the modern pentathlon requires the most varied skills of any competition: shooting an air pistol, wielding an epee, swimming 200 meters freestyle, jumping a horse over a dozen demanding obstacles, and running three grueling cross-country kilometers. This sounds like a day in the life of an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the physical acumen demanded of these performers also reminds us of the all-around excellence required to be counted among the world’s most accomplished automobiles.

Including BMW‘s 7 Series in that distinguished group is nothing new, but this latest, (mostly) all-new version comes to the U.S. in the spring of 2009 as a leading contender for the gold, reflecting the skills of the pentathlete with its unerring velocity, crisp footwork and quick reflexes, command of the elements, muscular elegance, and swift endurance. However, the large and lithe sedan also can do it all without breaking a sweat.

Enveloped in perhaps the quietest car cabin ever devised, our all-day traverse in a long-wheelbase 750iL on narrow, winding roads and unlimited autobahn was a revealing showcase of the car’s multilayered virtuosity. Of course, the primary component of any BMW is the engine, and here Munich’s engineers have outdone themselves with the 4.4L twin-turbo V-8. First offered in the X6, it will lead the 7’s entry into the American market in both the 750i and 5.5-in.-longer 750iL.

We’d also like BMW to bring in the 730d as soon as possible. This powerful (398 lb-ft of torque) and economical turbodiesel will be the model of choice for the European market, and we would choose it, too, over the V-8 if it were imported, gladly giving up its slightly reduced performance for the increased economy and immaculately clean emissions. For example, on the European urban cycle, it uses almost half as much fuel per kilometer as the V-8, and it produces much less C02 per mile driven.

Even so, the V-8 is a wonderfully innovative V-8 that shrugs off the 7’s 4700-lb curb weight with a broad, robust torque band that stretches its peak 450 lb-ft of torque from 1800 to 4500 rpm. It also is indefatigable in its contribution to the car’s top end due to an elastic 400 hp that peaks from 5500 to 6400 rpm. According to BMW, the sprint from 0 to 60 mph takes just 5.2 sec, but the number is meaningless because the effect of opening wide the throttle is relentlessly linear acceleration. A top speed of 150 mph may be modest by some standards, but getting there is so fluent and effortless it’s silly to compare the car’s high-speed chops against the numbers posted by faster automobiles.

Both new engines rely, still, on a torque-converter six-speed automatic gearbox (a BMW engineer told us more gears will come when “the gearbox meets our expectations”) to transfer power to the rear wheels, but this familiar transmission has been massaged to be faster, smoother, and more economical. More significant, the new, larger E-Shift lever now juts from the center console. Moving it from the steering column allows a more conventional way to shift manually through the gears, though it seems to have robbed a bit of storage space.

BMW claims this powertrain is the most efficient in its class, and though the EPA has yet to announce mileage figures, it’ll definitely represent an improvement over the current V-8, not to mention the very thirsty 7 Series’ 6.0L V-12, which puts out 438 hp and 444 lb-ft of torque (less twist than in the new V-8).

To craft a pentathletic automobile, power and speed are essential, but more important is the management of that energy through the chassis, wheels, and brakes, and BMW does this as well as anyone. What BMW does do better than anyone is retaining the “machine-ness” of its vehicles so the driver feels in command over a precision instrument and not just a passenger in a luxury liner.

Lots of credit for the intimate relationship between driver and road is the new suspension. For the first time in a BMW passenger car, up front is a multilink double-wishbone setup, plus the rear has been revised with a new, V-shaped link system for increased comfort. The only difference between the standard and long-wheelbase sedans is a rear air-suspension system for the limo for even more comfort. This 7 also introduces Driving Dynamics Control, which allows the driver to select among four progressively sportier programs that also integrate the three-mode shock-control system called Dynamic Damping Control.

To continue this acronymic progress through the long list of chassis controls would wear out the caps-lock key on our computer, so we’ll refer you to other sources for a deeper understanding of the many dynamic controls in this highly computerized automobile, but their net effect is to provide an entertaining yet controlled driving experience no matter road or weather conditions.

The new, optionally available Integral Active Steering, a first in the car’s class, adds rear-wheel steering to the previously available variable-ratio front steering. At slow speeds, the wheels turn opposite to the front wheels to help negotiate tight spots, while at higher speeds they’ll turn along with the fronts for improved directional stability. We could not feel the system in action except that the 750iL would go everywhere we pointed it without the need for extraneous adjustments to the steering wheel. It was especially effective when we managed a few flat-out romps on the autobahn. “On rails” may be hackneyed, but no better term describes the sensation.

If we haven’t touched on the new bodywork yet, it’s because the changes are subtle and will not disturb the sensibilities of loyalists nor of those new to BMW showrooms. If it’s not a breakthrough design like Gen IV’s was back in 2001, the changes created by Chris Bangle and Adrian Hooydonck are still effective in making this 16.65-ft sedan’s musculature look more defined and lending it a lower, sportier stance. The 750iL now even has its own roofline to help prevent it looking simply like a “stretched” standard sedan. The new 7 can most readily be ID’d by the chromed gill on both side panels, which also integrates the side blinker. Affectation or hallmark? We’ll let the shoppers decide. More to point of the new look, the roof, doors, hood, and front fenders all are fashioned of aluminum for weight savings where they count, high up in the structure.

Most impressive are the changes inside. Marked by horizontal color gradations, a mix of fine leather and polished woods, and a new high-tech Black Panel instrument cluster, it’s the most luxurious-feeling interior yet from BMW. It’s also so loaded with electronics and telematics that the owner’s manual is incorporated into the entertainment system’s hard drive for quick reference. Learning all the controls obviously requires some time and effort, but BMW’s ergonomic engineers have managed to make iDrive an easier system to learn and use, and there are still the redundant buttons and switches on the dash for quick access to the most commonly used systems. iDrive is still not our favorite way to negotiate our way around a car’s systems, but we could live with it. On the other hand, the new navigation system is much easier to use than before and features improved graphics and 3D imaging.

Also enhancing the driver’s touch to the outside world is a new night-vision system that can alert the driver to a pedestrian’s presence, and even reveals whether the walker is heading parallel to the road or about to cross it. Other notable safety features new to the 7 include a head-up display that is easily legible and highly useful, a newly introduced Active Blind Spot Detection system, and the Lane Departure Warning and High Beam Assist previously available on some other BMW models. Our favorite, though, is the new sideview camera system that lets the driver view oncoming traffic when trying to enter a road from, say, an alley or garage exit. It’s part of the optional package that also includes the rearview camera, and it’s one we’d happily pay for.

Which brings us to cost. Despite the plethora of newness and the high levels of standard equipment, it’s expected the new 7 Series will transact for little more than the current model. We may get more details on this aspect of ownership at the Paris show, and we’ll certainly keep our reports on this remarkable new sedan up to date. For now, if you like the idea of being able to shoot, fence, ride, swim, and run with the best, you’ll love the new 7 Series.

2009 BMW 7-Series News and Reviews

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